KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 ― There is no basis or urgency to push through the Anti-Fake News Bill 2018 in the current Parliament sitting, Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

After attending a briefing on the Bill for Opposition lawmakers by the Attorney-General Chambers in Parliament today, Dr Mahathir said many questions were raised during the briefing that was left unanswered by the officers.

"It is clear that they themselves were confused and did not know the purpose of the Bill except that it was for political reasons.

"There are existing laws that are sufficient but by having this law, it gives the government the power to arrest those who criticise the government,” he told reporters after the briefing.

Citing an example, Dr Mahathir said it was pointed out during the briefing on why such a law is needed when there are existing laws to govern similar misdemeanors or crimes, but the officers were not able to answer the question.

He said the Bill requires more time to be debated in the Parliament and does not need to be rushed during the current sitting, due to the objections against the controversial law.

"We do not need to pass the Bill in one day when the parliamentary sitting is coming to an end… This matter is very serious and we can give it more time to be debated in the next sitting after the general elections.

"The Bill is purely political and does not have the intention to protect the safety or rights of the people from being attacked by falsehood,” he said.

The government tabled the Bill for the first reading in Parliament yesterday.

The proposed law seeks to penalise those who create, offer, circulate, print and publish fake news or publications containing fake news with a jail term of up to 10 years, a maximum fine of RM500,000, or both.

Those found guilty of persisting in spreading fake news will be further subject to a fine of RM100,000 if they fail to remove such publications and a maximum fine of RM3,000 for every day the "offence” continues to be committed.